No shit: three degrees of Harrison Ford

Weekend DVD rental kit

No shit: three degrees of Harrison Ford

The key to appreciating Harrison Ford (IMDB Ford page) is understanding first that he's a method actor, and second that his method is to project himself into character by imagining how constipated he ought to look in a given situation. (In this regard, he was at his jammed-up best in Frantic, though I really can't recommend the movie.) When the going gets tough, every look that crosses Ford's face screams "straining at stool!" The only question is, how hard?

Regarding Henry (1991): This gloppy Mike Nichols picture (promo tagline: "The story of a man who had everything, and found something more") is one of those Quality Films you laugh at, not with. Ford plays Henry Turner, a prototypical Type-A asshole corporate lawyer who gets shot in the head and nearly croaks, only to return from the brink of death as his family's new talking pet. He's got seriously diminished mental capacity, but he's lots nicer. Far and away Ford's least intestinally distressed performance.

The Fugitive (1993): The 1960s TV series it's based on was innovative, the first of the serial-plotline shows that are so popular 40 years later. This is just a plodding action picture, but Ford gives great face as Dr. Richard Kimble, a man with no change in his pockets racing against the clock in a world full of pay toilets. Not that he'd necessarily be able to squeeze one out if he had the opportunity--many looks of very deep concern and consternation in this one.

Blade Runner (1982): This is admittedly the only good movie in the bunch, and my theory is that it's partly because this adaptation of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is tailor-made for an actor of Ford's talents: His character, the 'droid-killer Rick Deckard, can never shit--because he's a 'droid himself! (This aspect of the story is made more evident in Ridley Scott's director's cut; I liked the original better myself.)